WASHINGTON: Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy has asked the Obama Administration to undertake bilateral consultations with Colombo to work out a consensus on the draft of the alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka proposed to be tabled in UNHRC in Geneva.

Swamy, who met Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake, conveyed his point of view on the American move to introduce a resolution at the ongoing UN Human Rights Council session.

Noting that this is his personal initiative, Swamy, during his nearly hour long meeting with the State Department officials, cautioned the US that the resolution should not be seen as a victory of the “divisive” forces close to ‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’ as that could result in revival of the LTTE, which is not in the interest of anyone.

Expressing satisfaction over his meeting with the US officials, Swamy argued that any investigation into the alleged human rights violations should be taken by the democratically elected government of Sri Lanka and not by any internationally appointed bodies.

“Because Sri Lanka, being a democratic country, stands on a totally different footing from Bosnia and Zaire,” he said.

“Under no circumstances the resolution has any indication that Rajapaksa (Sri Lankan president) and others are guilty of war crimes. Whatever has to be done has to be done by the Government of Sri Lanka and not by international agencies. The demand for international agencies essentially comes from supporters of LTTE,” Swamy told PTI after the meeting.

Swamy told US officials that there is no probability of setting up an internationally-appointed “intrusive” probe which Sri Lanka will be compelled to comply because Russia and China will veto such a move.

“Thus no resolution not acceptable to Sri Lanka can be ever enforced in the UN framework,” he said.

“I therefore urged the US to undertake bilateral consultations with Sri Lanka to work out a consensus resolution to adopt within the framework of the proposed US draft, and based the submissions of Blake to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs recently, rather than to repeat the divisive resolution of last year, which has remained sterile and a dead letter, except for enthusing the financial legatees of the LTTE to continue to finance disinformation in the media,” Swamy said.

Based on his feedback from State Department officials, he said that US resolution is unlikely to dictate terms to Sri Lanka or call for an international agency.

“This would be big setback to the pro-LTTE forces. The emphasis would be more on reconciliation and devolution of powers,” Swamy said. (Courtesy: India Times)

WASHINGTON: Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy has asked the Obama Administration to undertake bilateral consultations with Colombo to work out a consensus on the draft of the alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka proposed to be tabled in UNHRC in Geneva.

Noting that this is his personal initiative, Swamy, during his nearly hour long meeting with the State Department officials, cautioned the US that the resolution should not be seen as a victory of the “divisive” forces close to ‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’ as that could result in revival of the LTTE, which is not in the interest of anyone.

Expressing satisfaction over his meeting with the US officials, Swamy argued that any investigation into the alleged human rights violations should be taken by the democratically elected government of Sri Lanka and not by any internationally appointed bodies.

“Because Sri Lanka, being a democratic country, stands on a totally different footing from Bosnia and Zaire,” he said.

“Under no circumstances the resolution has any indication that Rajapaksa (Sri Lankan president) and others are guilty of war crimes. Whatever has to be done has to be done by the Government of Sri Lanka and not by international agencies. The demand for international agencies essentially comes from supporters of LTTE,” Swamy told PTI after the meeting.

Swamy told US officials that there is no probability of setting up an internationally-appointed “intrusive” probe which Sri Lanka will be compelled to comply because Russia and China will veto such a move.

“Thus no resolution not acceptable to Sri Lanka can be ever enforced in the UN framework,” he said.

“I therefore urged the US to undertake bilateral consultations with Sri Lanka to work out a consensus resolution to adopt within the framework of the proposed US draft, and based the submissions of Blake to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs recently, rather than to repeat the divisive resolution of last year, which has remained sterile and a dead letter, except for enthusing the financial legatees of the LTTE to continue to finance disinformation in the media,” Swamy said.

Based on his feedback from State Department officials, he said that US resolution is unlikely to dictate terms to Sri Lanka or call for an international agency.

“This would be big setback to the pro-LTTE forces. The emphasis would be more on reconciliation and devolution of powers,” Swamy said.

2 Responses to Subramanian Swamy asks US to work with Sri Lanka on resolution at UNHRC

You Say”Indian PM says worried about Tamil population in Sri Lanka”, the pandit wants “the Sri Lankan government to give them (Sri Lanka’s Tamils) a chance to live with dignity and self-respect”.

Let’s look at the facts.

1. Tamils in Sri Lanka live in more dignity than the people subject to the caste system in India and the subjugated and Illegally occupied people of Jammu and Kashmir. When will you have the Plebiscite or Referendum in Kashmir? They have been waiting since 1947.

2. Indian Caste System: 65 years after Indian Independence, still millions of Indians cannot live in dignity and respect, because of your caste system.

3. Have you joined the UN Double Standards Club? Look the other way round of the Atrocities and WMD Lies of USA and India in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir etc.

Amarasiri, Why do you not check your own government statistics about Tamil population of your island and then talk.
Coming to your point about our caste system, yes we have our own faults. You only see the worse side of it, what you do not see is that for the last 65 years we have been trying to come clean out of it. 50% of all government jobs and education seats are reserved. May be this is some thing that you and your govt need to look in to to help tamils in your country.
What has India got to do with Iraq, Yes we are friends with USA does not mean that we have to take blame for every action of USA. because you are friends with China would you take blame for the Tienanmen square massacre?? And coming to your point about kashmir, you do not know ABC’s about kashmir, for starters let me tell you when India divided we gave more land(on a per capita basis) to muslims, still they are not satisfied. what the hell are we supposed to do???